Kvanefjeld – REEs, uranium, zinc

Kvanefjeld is located at the northwest corner of the Ilimaussaq complex. Underlying the broad plateau is a vaste multi-element resource that includes one of the world’s largest resources of rare earth elements (as defined by JORC or NI 43-101 reporting codes), along with extensive resources of uranium and zinc. The Kvanefjeld resource mostly outcrops and sits within 250 m of ground surface, with a low waste/ore ratio. The latest resource estimate (March 2011) includes a metal inventory of 6.6Mt of total rare earth oxides (including 0.25 Mts of heavy REOs and 0.5 Mts of yttrium oxide), 350 Mlb’s of U3O8, and 3 Blb’s of zinc.

Kvanefjeld differs to many other emerging REE projects, in that it is a multi-commodity project that is anticipated to also produce uranium and zinc. These co-products serve to provide a strong economic keel to the projects economics, and ensure a low equivalent cost of rare earth production. GMEL’s metallurgical team firmly prioritises the recovery of “Critical Rare Earths”, or those that are critical to energy-efficient technologies and are predicted to be in short-supply for the long-term.

In this sense Kvanefjeld is a project that first-and-foremost caters to energy efficiency, and that makes it an important project for the world.

Iimaussaq Complex – Specialty Metals (Kvanefjeld) The Ilimaussaq complex is one of the most unique geological environments on the planet, and host to prolific resources of rare earth elements, uranium, and zinc. It is the type-locality for a layered peralkaline igneous complex, and is as unique in its unusual rock-types…

Sørensen At Sørensen lujavrite occurs below a naujaite cap, but thick layers of lujavrite outcrop in the steep slopes that run between the ridge crest at 700m elevation, and Tunugdliarfik fjord. GMEL reported in mid-2010 that drilling had encountered significant intercepts of lujavrite. The results of the first hole drilled…

Steenstrupfjeld Steenstrupfjeld occurs at the top of the Narsaq valley, to the immediate east of Kvanefjeld. Mineralised lujavrite outcrops and was recognized historically. However, recent drill holes that were originally intended to sterilize the adjacent plateau intersected mineralization under a thin veneer of cover up to 950m away from the…